First Attempt at Homemade Bacon

[FishTalesNC]

I used Meatheads process for making homemade bacon. Bought a 3.5lb frozen pork belly on Tuesday. Defrosted it and trimmed the skin off that evening (saved in the freezer for cracklins). Started the wet cure Wednesday morning, flipping every ~12 hours. Smoked with KBB & hickory (daughters choice) this morning on the 26” with SNS and brought to 150F IT over 2h15m. Ambient temps were 210-230 most of the smoke. Cut a few nibbles off a thin edge when it came off the kettle... had to defend, knife in hand, against further attempts from the wife & kid. Not sure, may have achieved nirvana. 🙌🏻 Making BLTs later today...

Learnings:

• Buying a pork belly was not easy! One local butcher will no longer get any business from me. Another was awesomely helpful - Cliffs Meat Market in Carrboro. Offered to trim the skin for me if I’d come back the next day. No time, so he showed me how (even with people in the back shouting at him for help with something). I thought it was fairly difficult to do, cut a bit more fat off at the start than I wanted. I will call ahead in the future to see if I can have it done ahead of time. If not, not the end of the world either.
• I mixed the curing ingredients in a Pyrex measuring cup first and poured it into the ziploc. The solution was supersaturated so a bunch "stuck" in the measuring cup and had to be scooped out. Next time I’ll mix it in the ziploc as Meathead suggests.
• On Wednesday I didn’t have a kitchen scale. On Friday I do... OXO good grips 11lb stainless top. Yes, I realize I couldn’t get my measurements exactly correct w/o this. 😞 Resolved!
• Next time, gonna see if 3 of these will fit on the kettle!

Thanks to nsbbqguy HorseDoctor scottranda and kamadoRob for the kick in the butt needed to make this happen!

[scottranda]

Yummmmm!! 🥓

[Fire Art]

That looks Awesome

[HorseDoctor]

That looks awesome! Good job!!!

[Steve B]

Nice job brother. I gotta make more myself. Ran out a few weeks ago.

[ComfortablyNumb]

Good job! I smoked eight of them in the KBQ on Wednesday, am doing the final eight as I type.

[FishTalesNC]

EIGHT??? I have bacon envy...🥓🥓🥓

[texastweeter]

Which brings you to your next kitchen gadget you need... a deli slicer. use mine often. Have some pastrami in the smoker right now, so it will be used soon.

[ComfortablyNumb]

FishTalesNC I was looking at meat slicers. This knife was brought to my attention on AR, so I got it. It works great, and instead of having to slice all your bacon at once, you can just cut off what you need and leave the rest whole.

[HorseDoctor]

A good slicer is a great asset for bacon! You can do thick or thin with consistency. I got a cheap one ($100-150) when I first started. It was easy to clean, but only good for a pound or two before it overheated and shut itself off. Next I got a better one ($250 +/-). It'll cut all day but it's a PIA to clean. I usually do 20-30# at a time so cleanup is worth being able to slice without stopping.

[texastweeter]

Check out my last post in show us what your cooking for what the slicer is able to do. that is my bacon setting, even though it was home made pastrami

[CaptainMike]

Welcome to Club Bacon, brother! My only question is what took you so long to try this?

[FishTalesNC]

Intimidated by the wet curing article & process!

[CaptainMike]

I was too initially. Amazing at how easy it is!

[jecucolo]

You will never go back to store bought bacon.

[Troutman]

Great job and very good write up.

[FishTalesNC]

And there was much rejoicing...

[EdF]

Slicing off the skin after smoking, while it's still warm, is really easy. Just a point of reference for the future. With a boning or fileting knife of course.

[FishTalesNC]

I may have to try that... maybe do 2 or 3 and try that with 1, see if there’s a difference in the smokiness or not. I’d love it if that were easier!

[EdF]

I can't provide any comparison data because that's the only way I've done it.

[ecowper]

Love making my own bacon. So much so that I just make 10 lbs every 4 weeks, or so.

[FishTalesNC]

I can so see the wisdom in that... in the plans!

[ecowper]

FishTalesNC my local costco sells full pork bellies in cryovac. They run 9-11 lbs. I typically buy the bigger ones and break them into 3x3lb sections. The remnants I dice up and use for lardons and such. Then I brine and smoke the 3 sections. Lasts me 4 weeks, give or take.

[FishTalesNC]

ecowper I think that, and the prime briskets I hear about, are reason enough to renew our membership. Sams is < 5 min away so we’ve shopped there. But Costco is only 2 exits and 15 min away. Time to venture down the road...

[RonB]

Great job.

[FishTalesNC]

The three of us did think the bacon was on the sweet side using the basic recipe and would prefer a bit more of a spicy kick next time. The suggested raw garlic and chile pepper sound promising - any other suggestions or guidance on how MUCH to add?

[HorseDoctor]

I routinely add 2 T. of granulated garlic to a 5# piece of belly. For a more savory bacon I have added 2 T. of coarse ground juniper berries, 4 ground dry bay leaves, 1 t. grated nutmeg and/or 4-5 sprigs of fresh thyme leaves (or dried thyme). Can also decrease brown sugar &/or maple syrup to taste. Have not (yet) used chile powder... It's all good! Have fun!

[andy.wpg]

Welcome to club bacon! Theres just something about the smell of that bacon frying out at the campsite that takes you to another dimension.

Enjoy!

[Greenmountaingoodlife]

This sounds amazing and may be my new experiment. Thanks for creating this thread, sounds like your first try was a winner